Post Office Holiday Schedule

USPS observes 11 federal holidays each year. On each of these, retail lobbies are closed and regular mail delivery doesn't run.

The exact calendar date shifts year to year since several of these are observed on a specific weekday (like "the fourth Thursday in November") rather than a fixed date, and when a holiday falls on a weekend, USPS typically observes it the preceding Friday or following Monday. Check usps.com's current calendar for this year's exact dates.

A closed post office affects three things: counter transactions, delivery to homes and businesses, and pickup from street collection boxes — none of these happen on a federal holiday. Mail already moving through the network keeps moving regardless; it just won't be scanned, sorted, or delivered again until the next business day, so a package showing "in transit" on a holiday isn't stuck, it's simply passing through a facility that isn't staffed that day.

If you need something postmarked or mailed by a specific legal deadline that happens to fall on a holiday, mail it the business day before — a retail transaction or collection pickup can't happen again until the post office reopens.

Priority Mail Express is the one exception — it's the only USPS service that operates all 365 days, including every federal holiday. Everything else, including regular First-Class and Priority Mail, pauses for the day.